16 UPA ministers served eviction notice for ‘unauthorised’ stay

New Delhi, Jul 30: Sixteen former ministers of the UPA government were in unauthorised possession of government bungalows for over a month and have been served eviction notices, parliament was told on Wednesday. Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu told the Lok Sabha in a written reply that the former ministers owe a total damage charges of nearly Rs.21 lakh for a month of unauthorised stay.

Naidu said the 16 former ministers owe total “damage charges” of Rs.20,92,463 for one month of unauthorized stay till July 26. ”Damage charges ranged from Rs.53,250 per month in case of Type V accommodation of Lalchand Kataria to Rs.2,43,678 for Type III accommodation of Jaipal Reddy,” he said.

The minister said 21 former ministers including Ghulam Nabi Azad, A.K. Antony and Mallikarjuna Kharge were staying in “general pool bungalows” and have been given 15 days to move into their entitled accommodation to be provided by respective house committees. ”These former ministers who are members of either Rajya Sabha or Lok Sabha have been advised to obtain accommodation from their respective pools,” he said.

The minister was replying to a query by MPs Anurag Thakur, P.C. Gaddigoudar and Hukumdev Narayan Yadav. Naidu said that 683 flats ranging from Type I to Type VII were under unauthorised occupation of former employees and others for a period ranging from one month to 21 years.